Brothers of Thunder
by Storymwing
Summary: AU. The crossover story of TFA Autoboot Camp, except in my style. Bumblebee and Wasp are twin brothers, but one mistake drives them apart. What happens during wartime, and the bond best friends share.
1. Brother's Bond

"Bumblebee! Wait up!" Wasp cried, panting.

"I've always been faster than you bro," Bumblebee replied.

"But I've always been stronger!" Wasp growled as he tackled Bumblebee. The two Eevees play fought for a while, until they collapsed, panting, on their backs, lying next to each other. The sun was out, warming their fur, and clouds floated by over their heads.

"Wasp, you're the best brother a kid could ask for."

"Same to you 'Bee."

"Wasp?"

"Yeah Bee?"

"No matter what happens, we'll always be friends right?"

"Of course!" Wasp rolled onto his stomach to face him, "What would make you think differently?"

"I don't know. Just hearing it makes me feel better."

"Well, come on," Wasp said, standing up, "Dinner's probably ready, and we start training tomorrow."

"Alright. Race you home!" Bumblebee cried, racing ahead.

"Bumblebee!" Wasp yelled, running after.

"Recruits, line up!" Their Drill Instructor, Sentinel Minor, called. Wasp and Bumblebee stood next to each other, in a line totaling five Pokemon. "State your names!"

As Sentinel, a Samurott, walked down the line, each recruit called out his name.

"Ironhide, sir!" the Lairon shouted.

"Longarm, sir!" the Elekid shouted.

"Wasp, sir!" the Shiny Eevee shouted.

"Bumblebee, sir!" the Eevee shouted.

"Bulkhead, sir!" the Makuhita shouted.

Sentinel whistled, "Largest group they've let me handle so far. Congratulations recruits, training starts… Now. Now drop and give me twenty."

Ironhide finished first, Wasp and Bumblebee soon after. Sentinel sent them to run laps around their track, while Bulkhead and Longarm finished. The average laps they completed would add up to how long they could sleep in tomorrow. It ended at more than Sentinel had expected, at five minutes. Ironhide had managed three, Wasp five, and Bumblebee seven. Bulkhead and Longarm were not so lucky, however, as they now had to get up five minutes early to run laps.

"Now, we are going to practice Mock Battling, so partner up. There will be one group of three, and I will assign the extra person," Sentinel announced.

Wasp paired with Ironhide, and Bumblebee picked Longarm, silently begging to not end up with Bulkhead.

Sentinel thought for a moment, before announcing, "Bulkhead will go with Bumblebee and Longarm."

Bumblebee groaned. He could see Wasp snickering with Ironhide, but, catching his eye, gave him an encouraging smile. Then the battles began. Bumblebee concentrated on his own fight, although he wished he could cheer his brother on. He dodged Longarm's first attack, following up with a square hit on Bulkhead. He then dodged Bulkheads counter-attack, and Bulkhead stumbled, hitting Longarm knocking him out.

"I don't wanna hurt you little buddy," Bulkhead said.

"Come on Bro!" they heard Wasp call, "Get him good!"

"I'm not your buddy," Bumblebee said. He then tackled Bulkhead, winning the battle.

Sentinel looked the brothers over, as Wasp had won his battle, and then nodded to himself. He left for a moment before coming back out with a pouch, laying two sets of basic evolution stones in front of them. "There is a set for each of you. Pick a stone to evolve," Sentinel told them.

Bumblebee and Wasp came forward, and examined the stones. They both settled on a Thunderstone, and picked it up. They glanced at each other, and laughed.

"I believe this one's yours Bee."

"And this one's yours," Bumblebee replied as they traded stones.

Then the stones activated, and they both evolved into Jolteon. Bumblebee was yellow with a black collar, and Wasp was his Shiny green with a black collar as well. The two felt stronger now, and at the short break Sentinel offered, Wasp introduced Ironhide to Bumblebee.

"Well, so you're the one that got us some extra shut-eye eh? Keep it up, I could use it," Ironhide said, yawning.

"Recruits, fall in!" Sentinel yelled, ending the break.

"Sir!" They replied in unison, when they were in the line.

"Now, in order to be an effective fighter, you need to get to know your team. What are you going to be when you make it past training? Ironhide! You first!"

"I want to be an Elite Guard Warrior, Sir!"

Sentinel looked disappointed, but continued, "What makes you think you can do that?"

"Hit me with everything you've got, Sir!"

Sentinel obliged, taking a few steps back, before drawing his _ashigatana_, sword, and charging. As he leapt into the air, Ironhide braced himself. Sentinel's sword came down, and shattered over Ironhide's back.

Ironhide pounded his chest, "Even harder'n ma Pa's. You gonna need a new one?" He asked, pointing to the shards.

"It'll grow back," Sentinel replied, shaking out his hand. The impact had stung. "Wasp, now you."

"I want to be an Elite Guard Frontliner, Sir!"

"What makes you think you can do that?"

Instead of replying, Wasp rushed forward, and body slammed Sentinel with all his might. Sentinel staggered a bit at the unexpected attack, but didn't fall.

"With some training, you could make it," Sentinel said. "Now, Bumblebee, what are you aiming for?"

"I wanna be an Elite Guard Scout, Sir!"

"A scout!" Sentinel replied, taken aback. Scouts were the ones most commonly caught and killed by the Decepticons, and wasn't usually a choice Pokemon picked. This time, he truly meant, "What makes you think you can do that?"

"Time me," Bumblebee said, before racing off. Sentinel counted the seconds until he came back.

"Thirty seconds," He told Bumblebee.

"Darn it, too slow," Bumblebee moaned in reply.

"Where did you run to anyway?" Sentinel asked out of curiosity.

"The fency thingy, on the other side of camp. Why?"

Sentinel was stunned, "But that's over a hundred yards away!"

"Your point?"

Sentinel moved on.

"Longarm, your turn."

"I wish to be Head of Automon Intelligence."

"What makes you think you can do that?"

Longarm concentrated for a few seconds, before letting out a weak electric pulse, replying, "Wasp and Bumblebee are brothers, Bulkhead and Ironhide came from the farms, and you, sir, are still grieving for someone, correct?"

Sentinel nodded, mute. It was the first time in a long time he had been struck speechless, and he didn't want to think about that incident. "Completely correct," he said quietly. Then he moved on, "Bulkhead, what are you going to do?"

"I wanna be an Elite Guard Mural Artist!" Bulkhead announced happily.

Everyone burst out in mocking laughter.

Wasp said, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"At least one of you rookies knows his place," Sentinel said, trying to stifle his laughter, then failed as he told them, "I don't even think that's a real position!" Sentinel finished laughing, and commanded, "Now recruits! Next Drill!"

Bumblebee moved into the next drill watching Bulkhead. The laughter hadn't phased him in the slightest. Bumblebee moved on. _So far, this has been a pretty good day_, Bumblebee thought.


	2. Waiting for Answers

"Alright recruits, time for bed," Sentinel called. "Some of you have an earlier day tomorrow."

Sentinel led them to a tent in the compound, and ushered them inside. "This is where you'll be staying. You each have a bed, and a chest to store the items some of you have…" He looked over at Ironhide, who was already stashing gifts he'd gotten from his mother. "Be sure to stay in this room. There are things lurking outside the fence, which you don't want to know about, or see."

Bumblebee collapsed gratefully into his bed along with everyone else, and was soon asleep. When Bumblebee woke up, it was still dark. He sat up, yawned and stretched, opened his eyes and looked around. He could tell from their breathing that Bulkhead and Ironhide were deeply sleeping, but Wasp and Longarm weren't anywhere in the room. He remembered Sentinel's words, but, against his better judgment, he went to look for Wasp. The crescent moon hung overhead, illuminating the camp only partially. He snuck to the pantry first, as Wasp was known to go for a snack. He crept to the door, and listened, with his new heightened hearing, for sounds of his brother munching. All was silent. He was about to move, when he picked up voices.

He strained to hear, "Sentinel is here, my lord, and the Magnus is currently out on another mission. My sources tell me the main camp is defenseless." He couldn't quite make out who the first voice belonged to.

"Good work. Stay under cover. Now go, someone's here," another voice replied. Bumblebee shrank back at the sound of the second voice. It was so full of malice and hatred, that he knew a Decepticon had infiltrated the camp. That wasn't good.

He waited, perfectly still for many minutes, as he wanted to make sure they were gone. As he snuck away, he noticed Wasp, also sneaking out of the pantry. Bumblebee walked in the scant moonlight for a bit, before padding back to bed completely confused. He saw Longarm had come back, and the Elekid was racked.

"Hey bro," Wasp acknowledged, "Snuck into the kitchen for some extra food. Want some?"

"Yes please," Bumblebee replied. So Wasp _had_ been in the Pantry, but that was beside the point. It was part of their code. Wasp had to tell him something, because Wasp never ate anywhere near his bedroom. He got on Wasp's bed, and in a very quiet whisper, Bumblebee asked, "What were you doing in the Pantry?"

"Stealing food, I told you. In any case I wanted to tell you that that Sentinel seems kinda iffy. He doesn't want us sneaking around, and he makes it sound like there are Decepticons lurking everywhere in the woods. I just wanted your opinion on what you make of it."

"I think he's right, we should at least stay in the compound at night."

"Well, I asked," Wasp shrugged.

"While you were in the pantry, did you hear anything odd?"

"Not really, why?"

"Just a hunch," Bumblebee replied. He never kept secrets from his brother, but now Bumblebee believed there was a spy among them. Bumblebee left, and got in his own bed, "'Night Wasp."

"Night Bee."

Bumblebee fell back into a deep sleep, and it only seemed like a few minutes later…

"Recruits! You've slept your time! Up and outside now!" Sentinel yelled.

Bumblebee groaned and rolled out of bed. He stretched out his muscles, and winced at the pain that shot up his side. Sentinel had them training hard, and he was sore. When he came outside, the sun was just barely kissing the horizon, and Bulkhead and Longarm, behind Sentinel already, were looking much worse than he felt.

"Don't worry," Sentinel said, "Soon you lazy sacks will be in shape, and ready to fight in no time."

Sentinel showed them to a different part of camp, a dip in the earth, where a track was located. There was a grass field in the middle, and benches along the edges.

"This looks like a human stadium," Longarm commented.

"It was built for the use of the Automons, and we were allowed to keep it, even though our ties are breaking. It is to be used for training only however," Sentinel explained.

"What else would it be used for?" Longarm asked.

Sentinel just shrugged. "Now I'm going to teach you about the benefits of stamina. Recruit Bumblebee!"

"Yes, Sir!"

"How do you feel about a race?"

"I would love to kick your tail from here to Spear Pillar, sir!"

"We'll see," Sentinel trailed off as he gave the go, and Bumblebee shot forward going very fast, even for a normal Jolteon. Bumblebee was way ahead of Sentinel for the first five laps, but then he began to tire, his paws dragging, breath coming harder, and slowing down. Then the easy, ground eating loping pace Sentinel was using, quickly swallowed the distance between them. He passed Bumblebee, and beat him with two laps remaining. Bumblebee finally crossed the finish line, and planted his paws a distance from each other, sweat dripping down his fur to collect in a puddle, and his breath was coming in ragged gasps. Sentinel was barely breathing heavy, and hadn't broken a sweat at all.

"A trained warrior," Sentinel began his lesson, "Can run for miles and much further before needing a break. Bumblebee, you're fast, but without stamina you'll be caught by the Decepticons before five minutes are up. Now, the rest of you, twenty laps, Bumblebee, five."

"Yes, sir!"

The recruits all ran off on their laps, Ironhide just going as fast as a Lairon could, Longarm was generating electricity to help speed himself up, Wasp was copying Sentinel's gait, and Bulkhead was racing like a Makuhita, very poorly. Bumblebee was staggering through his fourth lap, when Sentinel called a halt. The surprised recruits summited the dip to where Sentinel was standing. He was on a small raise in the landscape, looking at the horizon. The sun had begun its fiery ascent.

"Longarm," Sentinel started.

"Yes, sir?" Longarm replied, nervously.

"You're the intelligence major," He said slowly, "What does that look like to you?"

He motioned to the horizon, and Longarm squinted his eyes, trying to make out what Sentinel saw. They all saw, even in the dawn, a haze over the horizon.

"It looks like smoke, sir," Longarm replied, equally slow.

"And what else is in that direction?" Sentinel asked everyone. A somber mood fell over the training camp, followed by a deathly silence as it occurred to everyone; what was over there. Main Camp. Main Camp had been attacked. Many friends, teachers, Automons in general, dead. Even more, likely wounded. No one wanted to voice concerns about family. Sentinel made an attempt to keep them training after that, but hearts were over at Main Camp.

"I'm going to call it a day," Sentinel said, dismissing them.

Nobody wanted to wander off alone now, so they all stayed on the hill with Sentinel, watching the smoke dissipate until nothing more could be seen. The sun had climbed to high noon, but the heat didn't bother a soul. They were preoccupied with the thought that they now had to wait for someone, still alive; from Main Camp to tell them the news of what happened. If no Automons came within the next week, it meant they were the last. The last to protect the world from the Decepticon threat. It was a harrowing and foreboding thought. Sentinel led them back to their Barracks Tent, and went back to the hilltop, sitting vigil. As the recruits watched him through a window in the tent, they realized why he had that name. No matter what the weather did, Sentinel just sat on the hill, unmoving, waiting for someone to come.

"So, what're we gonna do?" Ironhide asked. He certainly wasn't going to sleep at noon.

"I don't know. Any ideas?" Longarm asked.

"We could tell stories of our homes," Bulkhead suggested.

Wasp's mouth formed in a smirk, and he was about to start laughing, but "Hey, that's actually a pretty good idea. Now the question. Who's first?"

"Ah'll go," Ironhide said. The five recruits all got on their respective beds, Bumblebee, Wasp, and Ironhide lay down, due to physique they couldn't sit well, while Bulkhead and Longarm sat down on their beds. Ironhide began, "Ah was hatched 'bout, maybe ten years 'go, and ah only knew my Pa for a bit, but they tell me 'e was a great warrior. Kup, Ma say 'is name was."

There where gasps, and the recruits whispered at his name. The warrior Kup wasn't just famous, but legendary. He was one of the best teachers the Automons had ever had, and had been killed by an explosion in a rescue attempt gone wrong.

Ironhide continued, "I grew up on the farm with mah Ma, I got no brothers er sisters, cause she didn't want me anywhere near to the camp, and the lure of battle, but 's in mah blood. Plus she ain't gonna disrespect mah Pa by meetin' another. I evolved to mah current state, only 'bout a month 'go. So, 'at is mah life story. Who's gonna go next?"

"I will," Longarm volunteered. "There is not much to my history however. I've been told I was found when I was rather old, only about three years ago. The problem was, I had lost my memory, and they found me delirious in the woods. I can't remember anything, so I believe they're right. There is nothing else for me to believe right now."

"I doubt that's actually true," Wasp whispered, snickering, to Bumblebee. Then out loud, "We'll…"

"No, I wanna go next," Bulkhead interrupted. Bumblebee was surprised, this was the most forceful he'd ever seen Bulkhead. "It was my idea," he said, explaining, "I don't want to go last. Although, there's not much to my history either. I grew up with my parents out on the farms as well, and that's where I got into art. I was painting our human's house, when I got a little carried away. My Pop was furious at first, but then our human decided he liked it. My Ma was fine with it for a while, but then the human, and even Pop, had me painting more, and more, because I was so good, and she didn't like it. Painting, for me, wasn't fun for me anymore either. It was getting to be a problem, so she sent me out here. Since I came from the farm, and I've been focused on art, I'm not the smartest. I'm gonna try and work on that though."

As Bulkhead was finally finished, Bumblebee was surprised. There was more going on in Bulkhead's life then he'd first realized.

"Bee, our turn," Wasp said.

Wasp began telling their story, "We've lived in Main Camp for a lot of our lives. I hatched only a few days before Bumblebee, and our parents were so proud. Our dad is an Espeon, and mom is a Glaceon. They are great parents, and I dearly hope they're okay," Wasp paused for a second reflecting on what was going on outside, the continued, "I was born shiny, and Bumblebee was normal colored. Neither of us cared. We had fun fighting off trainers that tried to catch me, but if we were losing, Dad could always sense it, and then come to pummel the human."

Bumblebee decided to take over, as Wasp was getting carried away, "We've been together for just about all of our lives. We don't really like being separated, but we know that's what it's gonna come down to in the end. We both wanna make a difference, and we picked the positions we want in order to protect each other, more than to our skills."

Bumblebee yawned as he finished, noticing the sun had gone down. After that there were a few mumbles of 'Goodnight everyone' until, quickly, everyone was asleep. Bumblebee slept fitfully, tossing, and turning, while thinking about the events that had happened. He should have known. He heard the spy talking in the Pantry. He hadn't told Sentinel. As he finally drifted into a distorted sleep, he wondered what both outcomes could be…

In the morning, Bumblebee woke up, and realized he was likely the first one up. Out of the recruits anyways, seeing all four others still in bed. He quietly left their barracks, and walked out into the midmorning sunshine. He stretched out his sore muscles, and heard voices. Still suspicious after his last encounter, he crept over to the sound, until he recognized Sentinel's voice. He came closer, and was seen by the other.

"Sentinel, who's this?" The Pokemon Sentinel was talking to, a Garchomp, asked.

"What? Oh," Sentinel jerked back in surprise, "Uh, Optimus, this is recruit Bumblebee. Bumblebee, this is Optimus, one of the team leaders you could be assigned to."

"Hello Optimus, sir," Bumblebee greeted. His spirits had just lifted immensely, but he felt an air of foreboding, and it made his fur stand on end. Optimus was a new face, but did not have good news.

"Bumblebee, go wake up the other recruits," Sentinel ordered.

Bumblebee rushed off, excitement now filling him, as they would get to know, finally, what happened.

He ran into the barracks, "Everyone! Get up now!"

The recruits all rolled to face him moaning, "Why should we?"

"There's a Pokemon here! From Main Camp!"

"What!"

The other recruits were soon out of bed, bleary-eyed, but anticipation for news cleared it away quickly. They were fully awake by the time Bumblebee led them out to the hill where Sentinel and Optimus were sitting. The recruits settled in, wanting to hear Optimus speak.

"Hello, everyone, I am Optimus," the recruits fell silent as Optimus introduced himself. Then he began, "The battle was fierce, especially when they decided to light the fire, but we managed, barely, to drive them off. Ultra Magnus had been out of the camp at the time, because he was traveling between different outposts, so when he saw the fire on the horizon he ran back as quickly as he could, which attributed to the victory. Which one is recruit Ironhide?"

"Me, sir," Ironhide said, taking a step forward.

"You will be happy to know, your mother is alive."

It was true. The other recruits could see Ironhide visibly relax, as he knew his only family was okay. "Thank you for telling me," Ironhide said, smiling.

"Which one is recruit Bulkhead?"

"That'd be me," Bulkhead said, looking up at Optimus.

"Bulkhead, you'll want to have a friend…" Optimus paused. He hated his job right now. "Your mother is still alive, but your father died protecting her."

"Oh," was all Bulkhead said. His shoulders sagged, and his expression drooped. He didn't seem all that upset, but his father was being harsh before he was sent here.

"Sentinel, you'll be pleased to know Jazz is fine, even managed to take out a few 'Cons."

_This was bad, _Bumblebee thought. Optimus was putting it off.

Sentinel was very happy as he grinned at Optimus' words. "What else did he say? Because I know he doesn't just stop at a sentence."

"He said he can't wait till you get back, and wants to tell you about it," Optimus said, annoyed. "I need to finish."

Sentinel shrugged and waved at Optimus to continue.

"Recruits Bumblebee, Wasp?"

"Yes, sir?" They asked in sync.

Optimus paused for a long time, as he hated giving them new like this, but someone had to at some point. Bumblebee knew the news by now, before it was even said. "Bumblebee, Wasp..."

He paused again.

"Both your parents died in battle."


End file.
